Ogun lawmaker demands aggressive tracing of coronavirus patients’ contacts

The Chairman, Ogun State House of Assembly Committee on Health, Hon Adeyanju Awoso has called on taskforce on coronavirus, to intensify efforts towards contact tracing of a recent coronavirus victim detected in Ijoga community of Egbado North Local Government area of the state.

Penpushing reports that, the lawmaker made this known in a statement, adding that special surveillance must also be mounted on the immediate family of the victim, who has since been transferred to isolation centre.

The lawmaker representing Egbado North 1 constituency, gave insight to the discovery of the said patient, explaining that information at hand indicates that the victim came from Lagos to Joga Orile when he was not feeling fine.

‘Rather than proceed to the hospital for prompt medical examination, the fellow erroneously assumed that his case was spiritual and thereby looking for spiritual remedy to heal himself’, he stated.

‘Expectedly, things got out of hand and he was later taken to the FMC annex in Joga where the doctor on duty upon medical examination, immediately referred him to FMC Abeokuta where he was later diagnosed of COVID-19. He has since been put in one of the isolation centres for treatment’, Awoso explained.

Penpushing further reports that, the lawmaker who represents the affected community at the assembly, therefore passionately called on the authorities to set all apparatus in motion by tracing all possible contacts of the victim.

‘Special surveillance should be mounted on members of his immediate family and all the healthcare  professionals who have attended to him in the course of diagnosis.Trusting upon the judgement of our COVID-19 response Team in Ogun State, it is needless for me to state that there is a need for proper disinfection of FMC annex in Joga and also the family house where this victim was harboured for a week before he was brought to the hospital’.

‘Furthermore, I enjoin our security personnel to be more vigilant and diligent in their service to the State so that we can collectively contain the further spread of the virus. If our security personnel were only successful in intersecting this motile victim in observance to the executive order of interstate lockdown, there wouldn’t have been a record of COVID-19 case in Yewa North’, he said.

‘You will recollect that it was only last week that our hardworking Commissioner published that only 5 out of 20 LGs in Ogun State are free of the pandemic. However, this narrative has changed with this incident traceable to porous interstate borders’

‘Conclusively, I enjoin anyone that is not feeling fine or slightly indisposed to proceed immediately to the nearest hospital for proper medical attention. This is not the time to start travelling to your hometowns or villages in search of other/local solutions’, the lawmaker emphasised.